Capital One Bowl MVP gets ejected, returns to field for trophy

Not very often will you see a player ejected from a game for fighting only to return to the field afterward to accept the MVP award.

Of course, it was that kind of day Monday for South Carolina receiver Alshon Jeffery.

He was named MVP of the Gamecocks' 30-13 rout of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a game that didn't really even seem like a rout.

Jeffery did enough in the first half that he probably could have just sat out the final 30 minutes and still garnered enough votes to be named MVP, even though some of the media voters were set on not voting for a player who got ejected.

It didn't matter.

Jeffery was MVP, despite not catching a single pass after halftime.

MVP, despite being ejected from the game after trading helmet slaps with Nebraska cornerback Alfonso Dennard at the 2:10 mark of the third quarter.

MVP, despite missing the final 17 minutes and 10 seconds of the bowl game.

Heck, the biggest reason he was MVP was mostly because he caught a Hail Mary touchdown pass -- thrown by Shaw -- at the end of the first half that he wasn't even supposed to catch.

Seems he was just a nuisance all day … if you were a Cornhusker.

The most-asked question of the junior All-American after the game didn't even have anything to do with the game. South Carolina people wanted to know if he's going to enter the NFL Draft.

"I'm just thinking about enjoying this night with my teammates," he said. "I ain't gonna say this is my final game. I know I got a lot to sit down with my family and talk about, but if it is… it was a great game. We played our hearts out. Unfortunately I got kicked out. I regret doing that but things like that just happen during the game."

"Actually … I just thought it was like a personal foul and we'd just get right back at it on the field."

The play in question even sparked arguments as to whether the players should have even been tossed.

"They said they both threw punches, and they have to throw them out," said Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, who probably didn't mind seeing Jeffery leave the field.

Asked to comment on Jeffery, Pelini said, "He's a good player."

The 51-yard TD catch of the Shaw-thrown Hail Mary to end the first half gave the Gamecocks a spike of momentum Nebraska could never overcome, but it wasn't exactly how it was drawn up.

It was supposed to be a "tip-drill" sort of pass that Jeffery was supposed to knock in the direction of teammate Ace Sanders, but the ball just came at Jeffery far too perfectly for him to bat it away.

"We practice that play all the time in practice and I'm supposed to tip it to Ace or Deangelo (Smith) but I just caught the ball and tried to score," Jeffery said.

Which he did, to give Carolina a 16-13 halftime. Nebraska never really threatened after a stalled drive at the beginning of the second half, and the Gamecocks' defense got more and more fired up with each stop.

Jeffery caught four passes in the first half for 148 yards and the touchdown, the 12th 100-yard game of his career, breaking the South Carolina record set by Sidney Rice, with whom he also tied for the record of career touchdowns at 23.